Diversity - 4 reasons it's hard

Workplace diversity is a vexed issue for many Australian organisation.

Management theory extolls the virtues of diverse workplaces – the research is clear that they are more successful on a range of financial and non-financial measures.

Despite this, we still see diversity missing from many parts of public life. An extraordinary percentage of our political and corporate leaders tick all or all but one of these six boxes: full time worker, heterosexual, middle-aged, male, from an Anglo-Saxon background and holds a university degree. We’re still at a point where someone who ticks only four or five of those boxes is seen as adding to workplace diversity.

The obvious question then is – why haven’t we made as much progress on diversity as the research suggests we should have?

We think there are four key reasons.

We are not hard wired to recruit diverse leaders 

Human beings are not like magnets – we are attracted to people like us, not people who are our opposites. That means that if the people doing the recruitment are not diverse, then it is unlikely that they will recruit people who are diverse. They are especially unlikely to do so if one of the important criteria for selection is “cultural fit” – a phrase that almost invariably results in you selecting people like yourself.

We more scared of failure than we are excited about success

Every established organisation has, by definition, enjoyed some success. Almost invariably the people behind that success are people who tick the boxes we’ve listed. There’s an understandable reluctance to look towards diversity because it could put that past success at risk. Of course, that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality both introduces risks and limits future opportunities.

We are better at criticising non-conformity than we are at celebrating different perspectives

Diversity, by definition, brings different ideas and ways of doing things to the workplace. It is often easier to see the negative aspects of those differences rather than the positives. Consider a new team member who is more cautious in making decisions than her colleagues. She is more likely, at least initially, to be seen as “uncommercial” than she is to be seen as “prudent”.

Diversity means conflict

This is probably the most significant barrier to increased diversity at work. By definition, diversity brings different perspectives to the workplace. And those different perspectives will result in more tension, more conflict and more issues that need to be resolved. Even comparatively small issues like the frequency, timing and location of team meetings need to be reconsidered in a diverse workplace. If our workplaces have been more homogenous for many years, then we will find it hard to cope with the increased number of issues that having a diverse workforce creates. Increasing the diversity of our workforce means that all we all need to change and get better at resolving the differences that diversity creates.

Conclusion

In our view, the key takeaway is that having a workforce that is diverse at every level creates tremendous benefits for all organisations. However, there are many barriers to diversity happening at all or happening successfully. We think it is important for everyone in an organisation that aims to be diverse to be open about the challenges of diversity and to be willing to make change for their own – and the organisation’s – long term benefit.